Taste of Life: When Punekars served Jalebi, Puran Poli to Satyagrahis

About 75 women volunteers of Congress arranged for both meals for around 12,000 Satyagrahis released from Yerawada prison on March 7, 1931, for the next two days

Pune: The opening words of our Constitution – “We, The People” – represent the idea that power and sovereignty reside with the people, not just the government or specific groups. They give freedom to people to celebrate their rights. They assert that everyone belongs in a democratic society, regardless of wealth, faith, caste, gender, sexuality or other differences.

About 75 women volunteers of Congress arranged for both meals for around 12,000 Satyagrahis released from Yerawada prison on March 7, 1931, for the next two days. (HT)

On March 7, 1931, a large crowd waited outside the Yerawada prison in Pune to welcome the political prisoners released from the jail. Mr Perry, the district collector, and his assistants were keeping an eye on the enthusiastic crowd, which had been growing since before sunrise. Prominent political leaders like Haribhau Tulpule, Vasukaka Joshi, Haribhau Waghire, Trimbakrao Deogirikar, and Lakshmibai Thuse were present, anxiously making arrangements to welcome the prisoners, according to Marathi newspaper “Dnyanaprakash”.

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact, signed on March 5, 1931, before the second Round Table Conference in London, by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India, was a crowning event – Gandhi, the “one-time Inner Temple lawyer, now seditious faqir, striding half-naked up the steps of the Viceroy’s palace” as Churchill put it, negotiated on equal terms with a representative of the king-emperor. Under the terms of this pact, all political prisoners, except those guilty of violence, were to be released. The government allowed the peaceful picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops, and confiscated properties of the satyagrahis were restored. Free collection or manufacture of salt by people near the seacoast was permitted and the ban over the Congress was lifted. However, Gandhiji’s demand of converting the death penalty of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev to a lesser punishment was rejected.

Gandhiji managed to secure the release of 90,000 political prisoners in India under the pact.

That day, when it was understood that the female prisoners would be released first, the crowd flocked to the door of the women’s prison. Prison officials were busy inside with the task of giving the Satyagrahis back their clothes, money, and other belongings. Due to this, the release was delayed and people outside started getting restless. At 10.20 am, the prison door was opened and Avantikabai Gokhale came out with a charkha in her hand. The crowd applauded cheerfully. “Vande Mataram”, they shouted in unison.

After coming out of the jail, Gokhale hoisted the tricolour flag that she had with her. Other women satyagrahis started coming out after her. A total of 62 women Satyagrahis were released that morning. Most of them carried charkhas in their hands. They bowed before the flag.

After all the female Satyagrahis were released, they sang “Vande Mataram” and “Zhanda Uncha Rahe Hamara” under a large tree in front of the jail.

The release of male Satyagrahis began at noon. First, the B-class prisoners were released, followed by C-class prisoners. When Pune’s NV Gadgil came out, there was thunderous applause. The Pune City Congress Committee had kept motor lorries ready to take the released satyagrahis to the railway station. Two open motor lorries of the Pune City Municipality were also provided to carry their belongings.

Children volunteers carried oranges, bananas, and “chiwda” (a snack made from flattened rice, spices, and nuts) in bamboo baskets and offered them to the satyagrahis sitting in the Lorries. Some women, who had come from Saswad to witness the event, gave bhakaris (flatbreads made of jowar) wrapped in cotton cloth to women satyagrahis. Seth Gulabsingh Pardesi stood near the Lorries with his wife with folded hands. His son gave each of the satyagrahis a “pedha” (thick, semi-soft balls made of condensed milk).

The satyagrahis came from all over the Bombay Presidency and were keen to return to their families after spending several months and years in jail. Senior police officers wanted the Satyagrahis to leave Pune immediately.

The Congress committee had made arrangements at the Morarjee Gokuldas Dharamshala for the Satyagrahis to rest and have lunch till trains arrived to take them to their destinations. By afternoon, around 800 Satyagrahis released from the prison had arrived at the Dharamshala.

However, it soon became clear that most Satyagrahis would have to spend the night in Pune. The government had provided too few trains. Delays in releasing the prisoners, and enthusiastic crowds that stopped the lorries en route to the Dharamshala to felicitate the Satyagrahis were also to be blamed.

The committee had made arrangements for food only for a day. The next day 600 Satyagrahis were to be released who were going to come to the Dharamshala. Arrangements for feeding 12,000 Satyagrahis had to be made quickly.

As soon as this problem became known, the women volunteers of Congress sprang into action. About 75 volunteers arranged for both meals for all the Satyagrahis for the next two days. This news soon spread in the city and many men and women, not official members of the Congress, came to the Dharamshala with grains and vegetables. Many women helped the volunteers in cooking while men served the meals. Traders in “mandai” pooled money and offered “patravalis” (plates made of sal or banyan tree leaves) and vegetables. The Marne family of Bhavani Peth sent rations for a hundred Satyagrahis. In addition, the women of the family arranged to send bhakaris to the Dharamshala.

Haribhau Tulpule opened the doors of his “wada” to a hundred Satyagrahis. Women of the house worked day and night to feed them. Fifty Satyagrahis from Mumbai were specially invited to the Abhyankar Wada in Appa Balwant Chowk. Puran Poli and Jalebi were served.

It took three days for all the Satyagrahis to leave Pune.

“Vartanidhi”, a newspaper published from Ahmednagar, reported that several families in Pune had celebrated the event by lighting lamps and drawing rangolis outside their houses. A feast of sweets was served for dinner. A short story published in the Marathi magazine “Usha” in June 1935 had an elderly character who was saddened by his family’s indifference to the joy brought by the release of the Satyagrahis on account of its resentment towards Gandhiji’s non-violence. He went to “Mathura Bhuvan” and ate Jalebis alone. That was the first time he had eaten outside his house.

Mr Radhesham Agrawal, whose great-grandfather had started “Mathura Bhuvan”, the iconic confectionery and restaurant situated near “Mandai”, in the early twentieth century, told me several years ago that his grandfather often narrated how he would have to make his staff work overtime whenever leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, and Subhash Chandra Bose were released from jail. The release of political prisoners and revolutionaries from prisons saw far more than usual footfall at the restaurant to buy Jalebis.

These collective emotions of joy, belonging, and patriotism were a testament to Gandhiji’s mobilisation of the Indian masses, inspiring them with a sense of national unity and dignity. For him, the challenge for the nationalist movement was merely to rediscover man’s inherent goodness and make it the fundamental principle of politics. The purpose of the various movements he undertook was to transfer the locus of control from the government to the people. He wanted the power of the nation to be vested with the people. “We, The People” guarantees that the power rests with the people.